The mission goes on: Fire recovery work not done, but center's funds running out

Valerie Brown, director of RB United, stood inside the rebuilt Rancho Bernardo home of Robin Kaufman. The home, along with others in the neighborhood, was burned in the 2007 Witch Creek fire.

K.C. Alfred

Valerie Brown, director of RB United, stood inside the rebuilt Rancho Bernardo home of Robin Kaufman. The home, along with others in the neighborhood, was burned in the 2007 Witch Creek fire.

Valerie Brown, director of RB United, stood inside the rebuilt Rancho Bernardo home of Robin Kaufman. The home, along with others in the neighborhood, was burned in the 2007 Witch Creek fire. (K.C. Alfred)

Leonel Sanchez

Valerie Brown carried a welcome mat to Robin Kaufman's rebuilt home. RB United, a recovery center, is staying open when others have closed or are winding down.

K.C. Alfred

Valerie Brown carried a welcome mat to Robin Kaufman's rebuilt home. RB United, a recovery center, is staying open when others have closed or are winding down.

Valerie Brown carried a welcome mat to Robin Kaufman's rebuilt home. RB United, a recovery center, is staying open when others have closed or are winding down. (K.C. Alfred)

Valerie Brown drives around Rancho Bernardo with an insider's view of a community still rebuilding nearly two years after the Witch Creek fire destroyed hundreds of homes.

Brown knows many of the homeowners who have moved into rebuilt homes or are in the process of doing so. They are her friends and neighbors. They're also people her organization has helped.

“This family, we worked on some insurance issues. This one, it was construction,” said the director of RB United, pointing at new homes along Corazon Place. “This one, I know the owner. I go to church with her.”

Brown, 40, has led RB United since it opened early last year, but the long-term fire recovery center is running out of money.

Brown said her group's work is not finished.

“We still have people who aren't home and people who are in the process of rebuilding and still have issues,” Brown said.

More than 1,700 homes were destroyed in the fires that tore across the region in October 2007, including 365 in Rancho Bernardo.

More than two-thirds of Rancho Bernardo families who lost homes have rebuilt or have permits to rebuild, Brown said. The remaining families are still dealing with insurance issues, don't have enough money to rebuild or are looking to buy homes elsewhere, she said.

RB United, made up of volunteers and paid staffers, is one of seven long-term recovery centers that opened after the fires. They are funded by the San Diego Foundation.

The centers have served more than 1,400 families, but more than 80 percent of the $10 million collected for them has been exhausted, said Dan Beitema, the San Diego Foundation's vice president for operations and community partnerships.

The recovery centers were meant to be temporary, Beitema said, and have been led by local residents. Brown, who evacuated with her family during the fires, began as a volunteer helping out in the Rancho Bernardo neighborhood of Westwood. She previously worked and volunteered for other nonprofits.

RB United received about $500,000 from the San Diego Foundation and an affiliate. Its remaining source of funding is a $15,000 grant from the Rancho Bernardo Community Foundation to survey about 4,000 residences at Oaks North and Seven Oaks communities for people age 55 and older. The group will identify seniors who need assistance in case of an evacuation, Brown said.

The group figures it has enough money to stay open four more months. Its future after that is uncertain.

The bulk of RB United's funding has been spent on staffing, office space, fire-related cleanup and repairs, counseling, workshops on brush control and fire preparedness and other services. The group recently formed a fire safety council.

RB United recently moved into a new office at 11858 Bernardo Plaza Court with help from San Diego City Councilman Carl DeMaio and an anonymous donor. RB United also became an independent nonprofit to make it easier to apply for grants and receive donations.

RB United is staying open when other recovery centers have closed or are winding down.

The Rancho Bernardo office has taken responsibility for Escondido cases after the office there closed. The other offices are in Dulzura, Ramona, Fallbrook, La Jolla Indian Reservation and Valley Center.

The Rancho Bernardo center is not as busy as it was during its early months, but people still call or come with fire-related concerns, Brown said.

DeMaio commended the group for its current work gauging fire preparedness among seniors.

“There's a lot of people who need help, and we don't know who they are,” DeMaio said.

Meanwhile, there is plenty of work to do.

Last week, Brown delivered a welcome mat and a ceramic angel to Robin Kaufman, who recently moved back into her rebuilt home on Duenda Road.